


Once A Season

by ladyjax



Category: The Good Wife (TV)
Genre: Coda, Gen, Season 2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-31
Updated: 2015-01-31
Packaged: 2018-03-09 19:36:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3261851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyjax/pseuds/ladyjax
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Some thoughts on political campaigns, dirty tricks and lingering regret.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Once A Season

Eli sipped his scotch and put the glass back down on the bar, running his fingers through the ring of condensation off to the side.

  
"Mom says you fall in love near the end of a political campaign."

  
Marissa's words had been said jokingly but Eli could hear the mocking undercurrent that his daughter had clearly picked up from her mother. The ex-Mrs. Eli Gold wasn't a bad person but she was catty to a fault when she was thwarted. He shouldn't have been surprised that she was following the Florick campaign. In many ways, it was his type of dogfight - in the trenches, cutting the deals, digging up the dirt.

  
It’s not the first time that the mud got flung on someone else. "Rules of the game," he'd told more than on frustrated opponent. "You want to play with the big dogs then you better be prepared to take a roll or two in the dirt." That was usually said in the nicest voice possible. He reserved his "I'm going bury you and I'm going to enjoy it" voice for people like Zack Florick's little shiksa, wanna-be girlfriend, Rebecca.

  
" _And in the latest news, Nannygate is still a hot topic for Wendy Scott-Carr. The Democratic candidate for State's Attorney has been answering many questions regarding her hiring of DePaul student and illegal immigrant, Natalie Flores.._."

  
Eli tuned out the too-perky news caster as he thought about how all of this had turned Natalie’s life upside down.

The same nativist impulse that governed a good deal of American politics cruelly mashed Natalie with other undocumented people. Eli had taken a good look at himself in the mirror once the story broke. After Natalie had brushed him off with hurt in her eyes. In retrospect, she could have been as cruel with him as fate had been with her. Instead, she told him in clear and precise tones exactly what she thought of him, of the campaign that allowed him and others like him to play around with the lives of those they barely knew.

It had never bothered him before. It did now. Not that it mattered. Natalie's boyfriend was back in town, Lockhart Gardner was on her immigration case and Eli had no doubt that Diane and the rest of her team would get things sorted out.

Still.

Eli finished his scotch and signaled to the bartender for the bill. "You have a good night, Mr. Gold," the bartender said as he carefully stowed the money Eli had given him into the cash register. Eli shrugged into his coat and nodded at the other man.

"Same to you, Barry."

If this had been 100 years ago, the greeting would have not been so affable. Eli was not blind to history and its treatment of those who didn't *fit.* The ugly underbelly of the American story was a long list of those who were considered undesirable and the appropriate laws were written to keep them out. Eventually more pragmatic heads usually prevailed but he'd be a fool if he didn't take a hard look at just who he was tossing out of the Florick campaign in order to win.

  
Blacks and other minorities had been quietly excised from the website. Matt had seen it, taken a look at Eli then walked out the door of the campaign office. He cursed the insularity of white middle class Americans who thought that the world revolved around them. Or better yet, the campaign strategists who firmly believed it. Somewhere down the line, if Peter won, they'd pay for it. Just like they'd pay for rebuffing Pastor Easton in the way they did. Okay, the way Eli did. No lies there, only the truth. The bitch of it was, Easton knew it.

  
Eli stepped out on to the street, buttoning his coat against the sudden chill. If he gave himself enough time, he could bring this all the way back around to Natalie. She shouldn't have been collateral damage but she was. He could tell himself that there was no help for it. But there was.

  
He could have not looked too hard. He could have taken her to dinner that night and told her the truth himself instead of having her guess his true intent. She wasn't stupid. No, his Natalie wasn't.

  
Eli snorted. "She's not my Natalie," he said to himself. Even though a part of him wished that she was or at least that she gave him a chance. He could tell himself that he was too old (he was), too cynical (ditto). He could also tell himself that he deserved to sit in the company of an obviously accomplished young lady who, until the truth was revealed, was somewhat interested in him as well. Water under the bridge now.

  
He sighed and raised his hand to hail a taxi.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote way back during season 2 of the Good Wife and it's been sitting on my hard drive ever since. This is all there is.


End file.
